I suspect this status quo was spawned from commercial interests and constant repetition. Think about it this way: if cereal marketing firms can successfully convince consumers that eating breakfast is critical for health/weight control/fat loss, the entire sector stands to benefit from increased sales.

Working adults likely do not have the time to cook and eat a healthy meal every morning before work, so they turn to cereal as a quick fix. There’s little counterbalancing commercial incentive to counter the claims by convincing the population that everything would be just peachy if they skipped breakfast. I’m not about to take out a commercial on daytime television informing the public about the health benefits of intermittent fasting, and neither is Kellogg’s.

Once an idea has successfully become ingrained in the public opinion, it becomes relatively difficult to change.

Despite all that, you dietary counter-culture rebels are still with me. In this article, let’s look at what intermittent fasting is, if it’s effective, the pros/cons of intermittent fasting, and how to start. Let’s go!

What is Intermittent Fasting, anyway?

Intermittent fasting is the consumption of your daily calories within a compressed window. Most of those who practice intermittent fasting skip a traditional breakfast, eating their food in an 8-hour window from 12pm-8pm. Outside of that window, no food or drink (other than water, tea, or black cofee) can be consumed. Eight hours is not set in stone: some choose a 6 hour window (myself included), while others only eat in a 4 hour window.

When I bring this up for the first time, I’m immediately barraged with the usual responses:

You need to begin your days with a healthy breakfast to get your metabolism firing first thing in the morning!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Calories eaten at night turn right into fat!

In due time, dearest reader. Before we go busting up conventional opinions, let’s discuss the basics.

How does Intermittent Fasting Work?

“So, I just eat less calories from skipping breakfast, and that’s what leads to the weight loss?”

Sort of. Eliminating breakfast allows you to consume more calories in your other meals while still maintaining a caloric deficit and feeling satiated.

That is not the only factor, however. Intermittent fasting results in a few noteworthy physiological effects such as hormonal optimization, increased rates of fat loss, improved insulin sensitivity, among other benefits.(source)

The key idea to understand about intermittent fasting is that your metabolism operates differently in a fed state versus a fasted state.

As soon as you eat, your body spends a few hours digesting the food and burning it’s energy.During this “fed” period, your body chooses to tap into the energy stored in your blood stream (especially if you consumed carbohydrates) rather than your previously stored energy supplies — fat cells. During the “fasted” state, your body does not have the readily accessible energy (glucose) in your bloodstream, so it is forced to burn the only available fuel: your bodyfat.

To maximize the amount of time that your body spends burning those fat cells for energy, simply cut out the first meal of the day to increase your time spent in the “fasted” state. This results in naturally easier caloric restriction in addition to the previously mentioned metabolic benefits.

Why does conventional wisdom recommend the opposite of intermittent fasting?

In short, because studies are constantly misinterpreted. Time to engage in a quick smackdown of the common “gotchas” against intermittent fasting:

Myth #1 – “Skipping breakfast makes you fat.”Skipping breakfast is associated with higher weight in the overall population. Let’s put on our critical thinking hats on. It’s possible that in the general population, those who skip breakfast are just grabbing a baked good from Starbucks or a bagel from home to eat on the commute to work. Avoid drawing conclusions from headlines, and consider what the actual study had to say:

“These groups appear to represent people on the run, eating only candy or soda, or grabbing a glass of milk or a piece of cheese. Their higher BMI would appear to support the notion that dysregulated eating patterns are associated with obesity, instead of or in addition to total energy intake.”

It’s also possible that those who are skipping breakfast are already trying to lose weight, so individuals displaying the behavior are already heavier than the general population. I could perform a study on caloric intake vs. weight, and I guarantee you that those who are currently at a caloric deficit weigh more than the general population, due to both overweight dieters and those who go to the gym & methodically cycle their caloric intake. However, it would be absurd to use my study’s findings to imply that a caloric deficit makes you overweight.

Myth #2 – “Eat many small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism healthy.”This myth originates from a misunderstanding of “TEF” – Thermal Effect of Food. Your body expends energy to break down food, absorbing the energy stored within to receive a net energy surplus. Those who advocate for frequent eating assume that constantly digesting food results in greater TEF, thus a higher resting metabolism.

TEF, however, is not effected by meal frequency. You cannot trick your body into burning extra calories by eating more often to “stoke the metabolic fire”. TEF is measured in direct relation to the amount of calories consumed, not to the timing in which those calories were consumed. Consider the findings of this conclusive review of meal frequency’s effect on TEF:

“Using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labelled water to assess total 24 h energy expenditure, there was no difference found between nibbling and gorging caloric intake.”

In fact, your metabolism actually benefits from periods of intermittent fasting. After short to moderate periods of fasting, epinephrine secretion encourages heightened brain activity, prompting our body to move around — spurring ancestral humans to seek out and hunt food. This effect results in additional metabolic expenditure from intermittent fasting, not less. Your body has evolved to raise your metabolism while fasting to ensure peak hunting performance, while multiple days of fasting encourages your body to begin slowing down your metabolism to conserve energy for survival.

Myth #3 – “Eat small meals frequently for appetite control.”
Eating frequently throughout the day does not help curb hunger. After eating a large amount of food in one sitting, your body secretes leptin: a hormone telling your brain that you are full and can stop eating. When you graze throughout the day in place of larger meals, your stomach is never full, and leptin secretion will be low. This naturally leads to overeating.

This recent study found that fewer meals led to greater satiety and appetite control when compared to six smaller meals (holding calories equal). Useful side note: the study also found that increased levels of satiety were associated with higher protein intake intake (1.4g protein per kg of bodyweight) when compared to moderate protein intake (0.8g protein per kg of bodyweight). However, our key takeaway from this study:

Myth #4 – “Blood sugar levels are best controlled with frequent small meals.”The glucose in your bloodstream is regulated by your body subject to entrained meal patterns. Will your blood sugar be lower if you skip breakfast one day? Yes, it will. However, if you skip breakfast regularly your body becomes entrained to not expect food at 7am like clockwork every day, through ghrelin and other metabolic processes.

Blood sugar levels are directly tied to the meal pattern you choose. There is no need to fear long-term blood sugar issues & daily hunger problems from regular periods of fasting. Your body will fully adapt to the new schedule after a week or two.

Myth #5 – “You won’t be able to focus if you skip breakfast.”Your mental clarity is not a glass butterfly that shatters upon not eating for 4 hours. Your stomach may growl for the first week, but your distraction will subside once you’re used to the new eating pattern. The epinephrine mentioned earlier promotes increased mental clarity.

This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. When humans needed to hunt or search for food, their body adapted to expend additional energy, ensuring their thinking was as sharp as possible. The human species would not have lasted very long if we lost our ability to think critically any time we missed a meal. Once you are fed, your immediate needs are satisfied, and your focus can relax somewhat. Anecdotally, those who try intermittent fasting often report increased levels of productivity in their morning fasted state. It’s the perfect time to get any creative work done, especially with a steaming cup of tea or black coffee.

Myth #6 – “You won’t build muscle as effectively if you fast.”I’ve already written extensively on how to build muscle while intermittent fasting, so let’s keep this section brief. I train fasted, which is not mandatory, but can be beneficial.

Myth #6.1 – “You should eat protein every 2-3 hours”/”You can only absorb 30g of protein per meal”

A boldfaced lie, cherrypicked from misinterpreted studies to sell protein powders. Would human beings who could only absorb 30 grams of protein at a time last very long in the wild? Nope. If that’s not enough to convince you, here’s a study showing that after a meal, protein is still being absorbed at a rate of ~30g/h after 5+ hours. 30 grams per hour * 5 hours = at least 150 grams of protein absorbed per meal. This is a non-issue.

Myth #6.2 -“Fasting will cause you to metabolize your muscle tissue”

Why on earth would your body burn valuable muscle tissue before stored body fat? This makes no logical sense, but I still hear it every once in awhile. To calm your nerves, this study shows that regular fasting positively benefits body composition. My choice of fasted training is a bit more controversial than simply intermittent fasting, but that is a topic for another day.

Myth #6.3 – “You won’t be able to train as hard fasted”

Here’s a study showing that strength training is not negatively impacted by intermittent fasting. This study found that fasted training results in greater levels of p70s6 kinase/muscle synthesis.

Should I start Intermittent Fasting?

Only you can decide whether or not to give it a go. Don’t blindly follow advice from anyone, including myself: personally, I recommend that you give intermittent fasting a try. I also recommend that you assume I’m full of crap, and to look for well-articulated views on the contrary.

As for what the public thinks, one thing that I’ve noticed in my years on this earth: the most successful in life are often the individuals who shrug off public opinion in favor of their gut instinct.

That said, there a few primary reasons that I gave intermittent fasting a try for the first time around two years ago. I’ve stuck with it ever since, so perhaps you may find my reasoning useful.

It’s simple. Avoid unnecessary complication in your life. Too many people get hung up on analyzing every little detail, planning, re-planning, re-re-planning, all while no progress is being made. Intermittent fasting is a simple tool for a simple goal: eat your calories in a condensed timeframe to lose fat. Straightforward and effective. No pills, no snake oil.

It allows you to focus on what’s important. It’s liberating to be unconcerned when you are next going to eat. Busy with something interesting? You can skip breakfast or lunch without a problem, you’re ready for it.

Many people are constantly thinking of what they are next going to eat. Sometimes they finish breakfast, only to begin pondering what they will have for lunch. This is a distraction, and you have better things to think about.

It works. Intermittent fasting naturally leads to the caloric restriction necessary for fat loss. Additionally, you also reap the various physiological benefits discussed earlier.

There’s also a psychological effect I have not yet mentioned: tiny meals scattered throughout the day are lame. It simply feels right to sit down to a massive meal to break your fast — especially if you just finished a workout. This is the way your body evolved to function. You were not designed to wake up in a hurry, quickly shovel some FruitFlakes down your throat, and grab an energy bar on your way out the door to greet rush hour traffic.

It saves time & money. Congratulations, you now have an extra half hour of time in the morning now that you no longer need to cook or eat breakfast. Also, no more wasting money on high-margin junk food in airports, coffee shops, or convenience stores.

How do I start?

Simply condense your eating window. That’s really the only step. Here’s some quick advice to get you started.

Choose a certain time window to eat. Noon until 8pm works best for those new to intermittent fasting. Aim to start eating at roughly the same time each day, since this makes getting used to the fast easier.

Hunger hormone (ghrelin) becomes entrained to release at certain times of the day. If you break your fast at noon each day, your body will learn to release ghrelin to become hungry at that time.

An 8 hour window works best for those just starting out, but no need to freak out over the timing: an 8.5 hour window one day won’t be the end of the world.

The only acceptable things to consume during the fasting window are water, zero-calorie tea, and black coffee.

Consuming fat, protein, or fibrous vegetables for your last meal can all help to reduce hunger the following day. An especially useful trick if you’re in a caloric deficit.

Assuming that you’re not making other dietary changes, eventually your natural rate of fat loss will plateau. No need to be afraid of this, unless you desperately wanted to weigh negative sixty pounds after a few years.

When this happens, I recommend you give this article a read if you’re averse to counting calories, but want to kick-start the fat loss once more.

If you workout: do so fasted, and break your fast with a pile of carbohydrates & protein post-workout for the best results.

A longer eating window helps to get your daily calories in without rushing to shovel food down your throat. Personally, I aim for a feeding window of 6-8 hours while bulking.

A shorter feeding window works best to feel more satisfied on a caloric deficit. I aim for a feeding window of 4-6 hours while cutting weight.

I’ve been steadily gaining muscle with intermittent fasting for over two years now. This page is a comprehensive guide on how to do so.

You will find less citations & explanations here than my usual articles; you can find those scattered throughout the site. I wanted to keep this page as concise as possible.

This page is not meant to convince you of anything. It serves only as a straightforward guide on the fundamentals of gaining lean muscle through intermittent fasting.

Intermittent Fasting Basics

If you’re male, consume all your calories within an 8-hour window and fast for 16 hours daily. Females are better suited to a 10-hour feeding window, fasting for a 14 hours daily.

If you are male, an example schedule would be to break your fast with lunch at 12pm, eating until 8pm.

From 8pm until 12pm the next day (the fasting window) only consume water, zero-calorie tea, and black coffee. No food, sodas, or juices.

You don’t have to be neurotic with the timing, but it’s best to keep it close to the above guidelines. I encourage experimenting with the timing of the fast to find what works best for you: I personally stick to a a 6-hour eating window daily.

#1 – Fasted Training

Start a free-weight training program if you have not already.

For best results, perform your physical training near the end of your fast, on an empty stomach. A study from the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that fasted training resulted in a greater post-workout response than those who trained on a full stomachsource.

However, the effects of pre-workout protein intake have been well-documented. To get the best of both worlds, you can supplement with 10 grams of branched chain amino acid (BCAA) immediately before your workout for optimal muscle growthsource. This is by no means mandatory, but I’m aware some of you are intent on milking out the maximum possible natural growth per month.

If you do end up supplementing with BCAA, choose a powdered form like the one I linked instead of tablets (which are more expensive/more hassle). It’s going to taste terrible, and the recommended dose is two teaspoons. What I do is take the teaspoon, drop it near the back of my tongue, and quickly wash it down with water.

#2 – Calorie Intake

First, go to this calorie calculator. If your main source of exercise is going to the gym, select Somewhat Active. Only select Active/Very Active if you train daily for athletic events (swimming, track, etc), or work a manual labor job. I routinely see people overestimating the amount of calories that they need to consume.

Use the number the calculator reports as your starting estimate for your daily caloric maintenance level.

Weigh yourself every morning, after you go to the bathroom, but before eating/drinking anything (ensuring the most accurate result). Track your weight in an Excel/Google Docs spreadsheet.

Smartphone apps such as MyFitnessPal make it easy to track both calorie & macronutrient intake with little hassle. I’ve been using this food scale for two years now to make estimating volumes easier and more accurate. When weighing meat, weigh it raw, rather than after you cook it.

Option #1) Lose fat slowly, Build muscle slowly: Recomposition

Often simply called a “recomp”, this option maintains the same weight while slowly building muscle and losing fat. No weekly caloric surplus or deficit. Only intermittent fasting, macro-nutrient cycling, and caloric cycling.

This allows “skinnyfat” beginners wary of gaining additional body-fat to get started with weightlifting. Beginners can build muscle easily while losing their bodyfat, and when their progress eventually slows they can rotate between bulking and cutting cycles.

The downside to recomposition is that you make much slower progress. How far can you really progress when you stay 135 pounds for months on end? It is for this reason that I do not recommend recomps to any trainer beyond a beginner level.

If you choose recomposition, your weekly calorie intake should match the maintenance level the calculator above gave you, and you want your weight to stay the same (adjusting your calories every two weeks to try to “zero in” on maintaining the same weight).

However, for daily intake, you want higher calories on workout days, lower calories on rest days. This is where the “calorie cycling” comes in. It’s up to you on how to divide the calories up, but here’s an example with a 2000 calorie maintenance.

Monday (Workout): 2000 + 200 = 2200 calories

Tuesday (Workout): 2000 + 200 = 2200 calories

Wednesday (Rest): 2000 – 266 = 1734 calories

Thursday (Workout): 2000 + 200 = 2200 calories

Friday (Workout): 2000 + 200 = 2200 calories

Saturday (Rest): 2000 – 266 = 1734 calories

Sunday (Rest): 2000 – 266 = 1734 calories

AVERAGE DAILY CALORIES = 2000 calories

Option #2) Lose fat quickly, Retain Muscle: Cut

Refer to this picture to roughly determine your bodyfat percentage. If you lose weight at the rate listed below, you will preserve your strength during the cut, and perhaps even slowly gain some. Women & shorter males should aim for a slightly slower weekly loss than the figures listed.

>20% bodyfat – 2 pounds weight loss per week

12-19% bodyfat – 1 pound of weight loss per week

<12% bodyfat – 0.5-0.75 pounds of weight loss (lower end will be trickier and will have slower progress, but will retain the most lean tissue)

For example, let’s say that you are 15% bodyfat, and aiming for 1 pound of fat loss per week. One pound of weight loss is roughly equal to a 3500 calorie deficit, so aim for a 3500 weekly deficit to lose roughly one pound of fat per week. Alternatively, a 1750 calorie could be used to lose a half pound of fat per week.

Eat at maintenance calories for your workout days, and divide the rest of the needed deficit between your rest days. An example diet with a 2300 calorie maintenance, aiming for a weekly deficit of 3000 calories:

Monday (Workout): 2300 calories [0]

Tuesday (Workout): 2300 calories [0]

Wednesday (Rest): 1300 calories [-1000]

Thursday (Workout): 2300 calories [0]

Friday (Workout): 2300 calories [0]

Saturday (Rest): 1300 calories [-1000]

Sunday (Rest): 1300 calories [-1000]

Adjust your calorie intake if your weight loss doesn’t reflect your expectations. For example, if your weight loss plateaus for two weeks in a row, you could subtract 100 calories every day from your intake.

If you’re exceedingly hungry during your cut, you may find advice from this page useful.

Option #3) Build Muscle, Minimal Fat Gain: Slow Bulk

Another mistake that I commonly see is for trainers to bulk too quickly, gaining fat and muscle in equal portions. They consume at a needlessly high caloric surplus, gain too much fat during their bulks, waste time burning it off later, and are often disappointed with spending so much time at higher bodyfat percentages.

What rate of weight gain should you be aiming for? The answer depends on how long you’ve been training.

A trainee with less than 2 years experience can expect to naturally build 2 pounds of lean muscle per monthsource. That means the most you should aim to gain is 2 pounds of weight per month. Some of this may be fat but most will be muscle if you follow a half-decent program.

One pound of weight gain is roughly equal to a 3500 calorie surplus. Since we are aiming for a half pound of weight gain per week, our weekly surplus is going to equal +1750 calories.

Note: If you have more than 2+ years of proper training, you will not be able to put on muscle as quickly as a new lifter. For you, I would recommend slower gains: a 1000-1250 caloric surplus per week. You will have to track your intake carefully.

As for daily intake, eat at maintenance calories on your rest days. Divide your caloric surplus evenly among your workout days. For example, if you work out four days a week with a 1750 calories surplus: 1750/4 = 437 calorie surplus every workout day. If the calculator above gave you 2300 calories as your maintenance levels, here’s an example of what your week may look like:

Monday (Workout): 2737 calories [+473]

Tuesday (Workout): 2737 calories [+473]

Wednesday (Rest): 2300 calories [0]

Thursday (Workout): 2737 calories [+473]

Friday (Workout): 2737 calories [+473]

Saturday (Rest): 2300 calories [0]

Sunday (Rest): 2300 calories [0]

Adjust your calorie intake if your weight change doesn’t reflect your expectations. If your spreadsheet shows that you are gaining weight at a rate greater than what you were aiming for (for two weeks straight) scale your calories back. If your weight gain has stalled for two weeks straight, consider increasing your calorie intake.

Between Bulk & Cut Cycles:

When you’re finishing a bulk and are ready to cut, or are finishing a cut and are ready to bulk, spend two weeks in the “recomposition” stage before switching — with weekly caloric intake equal to your maintenance levels. This gives your metabolism some time to adapt to the new level of caloric intake.

Step #3: Macronutrient Cycling

Now that calorie cycling is out of the way, it’s high time to address macronutrient cycling. There are three macros: fat, protein, and carbohydrates.

Cycling macros allows you to maximize the muscle-building benefits of carbohydrates on your workout days, and the hormone-production benefits of fat intake on your rest days.

The exact percentages each day are not important. Your number one priority is to hit your protein intake goal, then fill in the remaining calories with fat/carbohydrates depending on if it’s a workout day or a rest day.

The simplest changes often return the greatest results. Today I’m going to share five straightforward approaches to beginners looking to lose weight without counting calories.

Fat Burning Basics:
Your body weight is determined by a simple equation: “Calories in = Calories out”. For your body to burn the energy stored in fat, you must reduce your caloric intake below the maintenance level. Counting calories is a straightforward approach to this, but it’s possible to cut fat without doing so.

Important Note: Although it does help, cardio alone does not guarantee that you will lose weight. This is because the increased activity can stimulate ghrelin (hunger hormone) secretion, encouraging you to consume additional calories.(source) Exercise is a vital component of overall health, but for sustained fat-loss without tracking calories, it’s critical to address diet & other behaviors.

Eat Meat & Vegetables

The first step is to focus on consuming foods with a low caloric density: foods that take up a large amount of space in your stomach (making you feel full) relative to their calorie content. In other words, eat more meat and vegetables. This is not groundbreaking, but most people still don’t do it. Don’t be one of those people.

It doesn’t really matter what vegetables you choose, but I recommend choosing the ones you like to ensure you actually stick with it.

My favorites are carrots, green beans, and broccoli. Potatoes and corn do not count, due to their high caloric density.

Avoid overly processed foods for the same reason. They take up little space in your stomach for the amount of calories they contain. Stay away from pastas, bread, candy, ramen, etc.

Get your calories from solid foods; the liquid calories found in sodas, juices, and milk are mostly devoid of micro-nutrients, and will not leave you as full as whole foods.

Convenience & TasteA common complaint is that healthy cooking takes too much time. Life is all about priorities, my friend, but you are in luck. Vegetables don’t take any real preparation time.

Carrots, just eat those suckers. Get a steamer bowl to easily steam green beans (or other veggies) in the microwave. You can buy broccoli in frozen bags that only need to be microwaved for a few minutes. You don’t even need to clean dishes. Being busy is no excuse.

Side note: Don’t buy baby carrots. Buy the long ones straight from the ground. The regular carrots are tastier, and last weeks longer than baby carrots (which they coat in an additive that turns them slimy in a week or two).

Veggies too bland for you? Then use some creativity with your spices, or just Google what to do. Pepper, salt, ginger, lemon, and garlic are some basic seasonings to begin making your vegetables more interesting.

MeatIncrease your protein intake. Per calorie, protein has higher satiety than either carbohydrates or fatsource. You will feel more full and satisfied from eating 300 calories of steak than you would from eating 300 calories of apples or peanuts.

Do not cut fats entirely out of your diet, unless you’re keen on your natural hormone production going haywire. This means a fatty cut of meat or a handful of nuts now and then is not harmful.

Drink More Water

Drinking more water helps to reduce overeating. A recent study found that drinking water before a meal directly benefited the rate of weight loss observedsource. Refer to the linked source or the image below.

In addition, studies repeatedly find that drinking more water increases your natural resting metabolismsource. To help accelerate fat loss, I would recommend aiming for 1 gallon per day of water intake.

I like to fill up a milk gallon with water in the morning, drink enough to quench my morning thirst, and put the rest in the fridge. I polish off the rest of the gallon throughout the day with meals, or by filling up my water bottle.

Increased water consumption also dissuades you from drinking calorie-dense liquids like sodas, milk, juice, etc. The rising popularity of these empty calories are one of the primary reasons that Western obesity is increasing over timesource.

Get More Sleep

Inadequate sleep drastically raises the risk of obesity, especially if you’re youngsource. When you’re sleep deprived (which around two thirds of Americans are), your body craves additional energy in the form of food. You’re hungrier from heightened ghrelin secretion, all while taking longer to feel full from lower leptin levels. A perfect storm for natural overeating.

If you’re looking to lose fat without counting calories, getting a full night’s sleep should be one of your highest priorities.

Besides, you should be getting a full night’s sleep for increased mental clarity & productivity anyways. I’ve met a few people who insist that they can function perfectly fine while sleep deprived. I’ve also met many drunks who insisted they could drive home perfectly fine while stumbling across the lawn. If you’re sleep deprived, your cognitive and physical skills will be negatively effected, and there ain’t two ways about it.

Resistance Training

In their endless pursuit to burn fat, most dieters stick to just diet and cardio. However, strength training is a useful tool that is neglected all too often.

First, strength training burns a greater amount of calories post-workout than cardiosource. This is primarily due to three factors: the “Afterburn”/EPOC effect increasing your metabolism after your exercise, lactic acid’s effect on glycolitic ATP turnoverwiki, and the energy needed for muscle hypertrophy (repairing/creating new muscle tissue).

Lastly, strength training has been shown to control ghrelin secretion, regulating hunger levels, and lowers insulin resistance. If all that wasn’t enough, the muscle tissue built through resistance training increases your resting metabolism by innately burning additional calories throughout the day.

Intermittent Fasting

An interesting strategy for fat loss is to condense your eating window. This is often called “Intermittent Fasting”.

If you’re looking to lose weight, I would recommend consuming all of your calories within an 8 hour time window. For example, eating only from 12pm-8pm is a great start.

Skipping breakfast is recommended over cutting out dinner. I like to be able to eat lunch & dinner socially with friends and family. Furthermore, it’s easier to get used to skipping breakfast than going to sleep on an empty stomach.

Something to keep in mind: calories found in drinks and cream/sugar for coffee can also only be consumed in the 8-hour period. Water, zero-calorie tea, and black coffee are acceptable to drink outside the 8-hour window.

How does intermittent fasting work?
You are able to eat larger portions for lunch and dinner, leaving you feeling full, even though you are naturally consuming less calories per day than before. Furthermore, fasting helps to improve insulin sensitivity, burns “stubborn fat” areas more easily (lower abdominal, upper thighs/arms in women)source, optimizes fat-burning hormones and metabolic pathways, among other benefits.

You may notice hunger pangs in the morning from skipping breakfast. Don’t worry, these will go away after two weeks or so. Your body is like a spoiled child at the check-out of a grocery store. If the parent buckles and buys the kid a candy bar every time they cry, the child will learn to cry to receive their sugary treat. If the parent ignores the child’s wailing, they will quickly learn that crying won’t get them a candy bar, and will eventually give up.

Every single person that I’ve recommended intermittent fasting to has seen positive results from trying it. So could you, if you gave it a try.

I’ve written more in depth on intermittent fasting here, I recommend you give it a read, especially if you work out regularly.

About Me

Hey, it's Jay. I created this website in response to the clickbait garbage churned out by mainstream websites without scrutiny or accountability.

I stand by everything found here. Entirely written only by myself, one face, one personality. If you trust me, you can trust everything found within. No agenda, no nonsense.